Ground level and above ground testing makes use of simulated nuclear bursts. These simulations detonate hundreds of tons of inexpensive non-nuclear explosives, typically ANFO, a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, in a spherical geometry.
The recently used container for the granular ANFO produced undesirable effects when the explosive was detonated. The container was basically a spherical fiberglass shell, which caused reflected shocks that interfered with the desired spherical pressure wave propagation and, in addition, broke into fragments which damaged experimental setups.
Previous configurations have also included stacked bags of ANFO which do not permit above ground configurations, have non-uniform explosive densities, and present difficulties in generating a spherical detonation wave front.
An alternative system consists of a cast explosive sphere which then is suspended in a "cargo net" arrangement. This system is limited in size because of transportation problems and manufacturing problems of molds, etc.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved container and simulator that will simulate nuclear explosions more accurately and eliminate the hazards and inconvenience of the current practices and the prior art.